Route 2: Ano Kalamaki

Trachones

On the evidence of inscribed finds, the area of Trachones can be attributed with certainty to the deme of Euonymon, whose centre lies within and around the remaining area of the Geroulanos estate. Today this area is the property of Sklavenitis SA.

Church of the Presentation of the Virgin

The small church of the Presentation of the Virgin, in the form of a free cross with a projecting sanctuary apse and extended arms, which stands on the Geroulanos estate (next to the Trachones stream), is dated between the 15^th and 17^th centuries AD. It is the only monument preserved intact in the southern suburbs of Athens, and it is almost certain that today’s church of the Presentation was built on the foundations of an earlier cross-shaped Early Christian church.

Pani hill

Pani hill is one of the highest hills in the Athens basin and is of great archaeological interest, since its key position meant it was inhabited from the end of the 4^th millennium BC (Final Neolithic period). At a height of 50 m there is a wide circular wall dated to the 4^th millennium BC, which served a fortification purpose: it protected the hill from the sea side and oversaw movement in the Saronic Gulf. In the western part of Pani hill a fairly characteristic section of the ancient quarry has been uncovered.

Agia Anna hill

On Agia Anna hill, Early Helladic and Late Helladic sherds, fragments of figurines and obsidian blades have been found from time to time, evidence of life in the area. It appears that in the Mycenaean period the hill was laid out in terraces, with fairly strong retaining walls built on its steep southern side. It was a centre of public and religious activity for the people of Halimous and at the same time a place of habitation.

Thesmophorion of Halimous (not preserved)

The Thesmophorion of Halimous, whose ruins disappeared during the Second World War when the German occupiers used the ancient building material for their own fortifications, stood on the top of Agia Anna hill or in the wider area. The sanctuary was identified as the Thesmophorion from an altar cut in the rock and from numerous archaic figurines, as well as from fragments of reliefs and inscriptions of the 4th^th century which confirmed the worship of Demeter. The chasms on the top of the hill may have been used originally in antiquity for the special rituals of the Thesmophoria festival and were used again by the Germans, after being adapted, for fortification installations.

Early Christian basilica of Halimous (not preserved)

The monument built on the site occupied by the ancient Thesmophorion of the same name was a single-aisled cemetery basilica, as three similar graves and a large number of bones and skulls testify. It was later enlarged into a three-aisled basilica with colonnades of four columns along the long sides. Today its traces, like those of the Thesmophorion, have been lost because of the German fortification works on the hill.

Marinou Antypa Street – Ancient theatre of the deme of Halimous

Of the monument, which lies within a private plot, only the front row of seats survives in its original position, and behind it the rocky slope with various workings on its surface. The front row consisted of six double thrones placed in a row and against the face of the natural rock, which had been cut vertically to receive them. Behind the backs of the thrones a wide passage had been formed for spectators to move along, while some cuttings higher up on the rock face probably indicate improvised places for spectators on the ground, or sockets for wooden seats. It is very likely that the space originally served as a gathering place for the inhabitants to take common decisions, or as a meeting place for the women worshippers during the days of the annual Thesmophoria festival, or that it was connected with the events of that festival. It was also needed for other festivals, such as the Rural Dionysia, celebrated in the countryside in honour of the god Dionysus at the end of December, during which performances were given of dramas that had already been staged in Athens.

M. Antypa – Thesmoforion – Kleious – Melpomenis – Ouranias Streets

These are mainly the foundations of houses, built sometimes on sloping and sometimes on level ground. On the whole they are built without particular care and consist of two or three rooms with a courtyard, reached directly through a passage.

Of particular interest are the remains on Kleious Street, which show careful construction because of the special use of that house. The excavated part of the ancient house is preserved and visible in the open ground floor of the modern Papaxian house, which was built according to an amended plan so that both the antiquities could be saved and the owner would not lose his property.